2- Structuring the Learning and Coaching Cycle

Question 1

Chapter Objectives

Answer 1

► Initiate and structure the coaching process
► Apply key coaching techniques to support the learning
► Deliver effective feedback to review success and close the loop

Question 2

Chapter Contents

Answer 2

Setting the Foundation
► Supporting the Learning Process
► Reviewing the Results

Question 3

Setting the Foundation

Answer 3

1- Agree on goals
2- Define current situation
3- Examine alternatives
4- Decide on actions

Question 4

Step 1: Where Do We Want to Go?

Well-formed outcomes are vital if effort is to be clearly focused

Answer 4

• Both coach and coachee must agree on what the goals mean
◦ What specific results are required?
◦ What growth will be achieved?
◦ What will the benefits be?
◦ In what ways will the individual’s capability increase?
◦ How will this capability be measured or observed?
◦ What will achieving the goal give the coachee that they wouldn’t otherwise
have?

Question 5

Step 1: Where Do We Want to Go?

Remember, goals and outcomes are not solutions

Answer 5

• They are the end results, and the benefits that will accrue from them
• For any goal or set of outcomes there are many possible solutions

Clarity over what results are required and why they are important will
greatly help the coachee to assess the how—the possible solutions

Question 6

Step 2: Where Are We Now?

Explore how things currently are—today’s reality for the coachee

Answer 6

• Use active listening to understand what is real for your coachee
• Make rapport-building a priority
• Encourage and support frank and open dialogue
• Don’t dwell on doubts or uncertainties expressed
• Focus coachees on their strengths and talents

Question 7

Step 2: Where Are We Now?

Help them to identify their strengths and skills

Answer 7

• Talking naturally about what they like and what interests them
• Asking them about their preferences
• Taking an inventory or structuring questions with a scale
• Examining with them what has worked well in the past and why

Be open and patient, but guide towards the next stage

Question 8

anxiety counseling

Answer 8

anxiety/ negative emotions a cloud..

step back…. watch the cloud go instead of becoming the cloud

focusing on Allah’s love more than punishment…. hope more than fear

Question 9

Step 3: What Are The Options?

Discuss with your coachees the options available to achieve the goals

Answer 9

►Help them to exploit their strengths
• People work best when their talents are used to best advantage
• We are more motivated when doing things we enjoy
• We are more likely to be successful doing things at which we excel

Question 10

Step 3: What Are The Options?

Help them to build on their strengths

Answer 10

Coach them to make the most of their strengths and manage their weaker
areas

Question 11

Step 3: What Are The Options?

Brainstorm new ways to utilize their strengths and develop new skills

Answer 11

Work with them to identify creative approaches

Question 12

Step 3: What Are The Options?

Help them to reflect on their own performance

Answer 12

• Recall a time in their past when they were successful
• Ask them how they can use that experience now
◦ “What has worked for you before in this situation?”
◦ “What was different about your previous positive experience?”
• Ask them to imagine doing the same in the future
• Let them see themselves be successful in developing a quality or skill

Question 13

Step 3: What Are The Options?

Have high positive expectations for them

Answer 13

Construct questions that assume success
◦ “Once you have dealt with this situation, what difference will it make?”
◦ “When you have delivered an excellent course, how will you feel?”

Question 14

Step 4: What Action Will Be Taken?

The options and alternatives discussed become the basis for action

Answer 14

• Ensure buy-in from coachees by asking for their suggestions
• Ensure that the actions stretch the coachee but not overwhelm
• Design the actions to build on existing skills or develop new skills
• Confirm that the actions contribute to the goals

Question 15

Step 4: What Action Will Be Taken?

Agree on the actions and be clear about the aim of each

Answer 15

• What outcome will be achieved?
• Ensure there is mutual understanding
◦ “Let me summarize, then; what I understand is that you have decided that
you will _________ in order to _________. Is that how you see it?”
• Gain confirmation from the coachee
• Listen to words and body language to check commitment

Question 16

Step 4: What Action Will Be Taken?

Be clear how ongoing support will be provided

Answer 16

Offer a mental run-through, or role-play

Question 17

Listen to words and body language to check commitment

Answer 17

ill try
ill see
thats a good ide
etc

doesn’t cut it….

probe: what specific thing will you do

enthusiastic ‘yeah!’ : shows commitment

listen at a deeper level by watching their body language and tone of voice

Question 18

The Coaching Contract

Answer 18

What goal(s) are you going to achieve?
What are your current strengths and skills?
What is required to achieve the goal(s)?
Having discussed the alternatives, what are
you going to do to bring about the desired
outcome(s)?
What actions will you take, and when shall
we review success?
How will support be provided?
Signed by:
Date:
________________________ (Coach)
________________________ (Coachee)

Question 19

Creating a Learning Environment

Answer 19

Stage 1: Unconscious incompetence
Stage 2: Conscious incompetence
Stage 3: Conscious competence
Stage 4: Unconscious competence

Question 20

if you get a sense there is something going on underneath?

Answer 20

probe….. ask…. don’t guess

Question 21

Creating a Learning Environment

Initial investment is
made here. We make
the decision to
change.

Answer 21

between stage 1 and stage 2

Question 22

Creating a Learning Environment

Ongoing investment is made here

Answer 22

Stage 3: Conscious competence

Question 23

The Art of High-Quality Listening

Answer 23

A major tool in the coach’s toolkit

Requires listening at a deeper level

Challenge the coachee to convert the language into positive action

Question 24

Challenge the coachee to convert the language into positive action

Answer 24

• “I will try to do it” becomes “I will do it”

* “I hope I can” becomes “I can, by….”

Question 25

Requires listening at a deeper level

Answer 25

• Listen for emotion in the words or body language
• Consider the context and meaning
• Translate the intent behind the communication
• Check for a shared understanding by feeding back
◦ “So, if I understand you, what you are saying is….”

Question 26

A major tool in the coach’s toolkit

Answer 26

• Aids understanding of the coachee’s perspective
• Provides insight to their concerns
• Enables the coach to create a rich, open dialogue

Question 27

The Question Is The Answer

Answer 27

Coaching is not helping or guiding others to different decisions

► Coaching technique is asking questions

Question 28

Coaching is not helping or guiding others to different decisions

Answer 28

• Does not help to develop awareness of current consequences or impact
• Prevents them from having to think
• Telling people what to do will not produce lasting results

Question 29

Coaching technique is asking questions

Answer 29

Not questions that provoke defensiveness
Not questions that damage self-esteem
Not leading questions

Question 30

Coaching questions get people to think

for themselves

Answer 30

• Use open questions and seek descriptive
answers
• Require the coachee to think about and
focus on a particular aspect
• Provide the opportunity for feedback

Question 31

The best questions begin with

Answer 31

• How many?
• What?
• When?
• Who?
• How much?
• How might you?
• What were the reasons?
• What led you to…?
• Etc.

What kind of response might you get
from questions starting with an
unqualified why or how?

Question 32

Effective Questioning Technique

Start off with the broad question, then listen to the response

Answer 32

• Practice attentive listening
• Listen for the words
• Pay attention to choice of words and tone of voice
• Listen to the body language
• Reflect back to check understanding

Question 33

Effective Questioning Technique

Formulate more detailed, focused coaching questions

Answer 33

• Help to build self-awareness in coachees
• Allow them to explore, become aware, and make their own observations
• Build a repertoire of useful, generic coaching questions
• Know when to use helpful silence!

Question 34

Effective Questioning Technique

Answer 34

Developing a Socratic questioning
technique enables others to learn by
thinking for themselves

Question 35

Ineffective command: “Make sure that you
track the project!”

Ineffective question: “Are you tracking the
progress of the
project?”

What might be a more effective coaching question?

Answer 35

“How will you tell if progress
is being made at the rate that
is required?”

Question 36

Ineffective command: “Put the summary at
the start of the
report, not the end.”

Ineffective question: “Where do you think
is the best place for
the summary in this
report?”

What might be a more effective coaching question?

Answer 36

Are there any advantages to putting the summary at the beginning?

Question 37

Sharing Insight Through Quality Feedback

Quality feedback is

Answer 37

• Factual, not perception or opinion
• Objective, not judgmental
• Timely
◦ Linked to the action or performance
• Constructive and helpful
◦ The term constructive criticism is an oxymoron

Question 38

Sharing Insight Through Quality Feedback

Feedback should address causes of problems, rather than symptoms

Answer 38

• Look for the underlying causes of a problem
◦ An attitude or an emotion may be blocking progress
• Ask questions to probe and invite self-reflection
• Focus on the relevance to future performance
◦ Rather than linking to past mistakes

Remember—give at least as much feedback about what went well!

Question 39

Encourage coachees to evaluate their

own performance

Answer 39

• “How did you think you handled the
situation?”
• “What went well?”
• “What might you do differently next time?”
• “What did you learn from the experience?”

Question 40

Why might self-evaluation be an

extremely useful form of feedback?

Answer 40

• evaluation coming from themselves is more effective

Question 41

Fostering Self-Awareness and Self-Responsibility

Self-awareness: understanding what’s going on in our heads and hearts

Answer 41

• We all have the capacity for self-awareness

◦ Some have a greater degree of self-awareness than others

Question 42

The coach’s job is to promote self-awareness

Answer 42

• Enabling coachees to be more in touch with their own thoughts, feelings, and
perceptions
• Asking questions that focus on what was happening
◦ Inside their head
 “What were you thinking about when…?”
◦ Inside their body
 “What physical sensations or emotions were you experiencing?”
◦ Outside of themselves
 “What was happening around you? How did this affect you?”

Question 43

Self-responsibility: accepting responsibility for our thoughts and feelings

Answer 43

• We stop generalizing
◦ “Everyone gets upset about…”
◦ “No one likes to….”
• We begin to own them for ourselves
◦ “I don’t feel comfortable when…”
◦ “I find it difficult to….”

To change our attitudes and behaviors,
we first have to understand them.

Question 44

With this new awareness and ownership,

change is possible

Answer 44

• Instead of disowning responsibility, we can
accept it and choose to change
• Greater empowerment comes with
realization
◦ We recognize that we have a choice
◦ We are responsible for our choices and
their consequences

Question 45

The coach can then move to coaching

about choice

Answer 45

• “What are your choices?”
• “What are the advantages/disadvantages
of each choice?”

Question 46

Closing the Loop

Answer 46

► The cycle is complete, and the loop can
be closed
► Review success
• What gains have been made?
► Consider whether coaching should
continue
► Summarize to check understanding
• The main points of discussion
► Prevent any slipping back
► Agree on follow-up actions
• Note them as an appendix to the coaching
contract, and sign off
• Thank coachees for their input to the
process